10%

it has taken me 9 flippin' months, but I finally reached my 10% weight loss goal. HOLY DINAH! perhaps my new goal can be to do the next 10% in a third of that time! regardless, there is 10% less of me today than when I first got on that evil scale. I have walked a half marathon in that time, did close to 8 weeks of bikram yoga, and have begun training for another half. I ate an unknown quantity of fat-free cool whip. and I am gaining control of my life in so many areas. that's that part that feels really great. okay, looking better in my clothes feels pretty decent too. so the next goal is not monumental and I hope it's without a ton of fanfare, but the last time I lost some weight [like 3 years ago] I couldn't get below a 25 lb weight loss. SO. I need to lose 7 more pounds to get past that hurdle. since I started at a higher weight this time, it will be closer to 28lbs gone when I get to that point, but regardless that next 7lbs are pretty important ones. the weight I will be at that point is not one that I can ever recall being in my adult life. okay, so I have a short memory and didn't actually weigh myself for an entire decade, but I'm still going with it.

I did some reading on weight loss plateaus recently and the word that resounded was: PERSEVERE. hold on. endure. press on. I am reminded of a Donnie McClurkin song from over 10 years ago where it says:

Tell me what do you do when you've done all you can, And it seems like you can't make it through, Child you just stand, You just stand, Stand, Don't you give up, Through the storm , through the rain, Through the hurt , through the pain...Don't you bow, don't bend Don't give up, don't give in Hold on, just be strong...

there's a whole bunch more, but this is the part that resonates. just be strong. don't give up. it applies to so many things, doesn't it...

it's been two weeks since my last confession.

yeah. school has started.

today was a pretty okay day over all - the school part of my life is fairly predictable, fairly routine and occasionally over-the-top drama. today was good.

nate started grade one today, and I was a bad mom. he went to school with another kid, not a parent in sight. now, I know that doesn't really make me a bad mom, because I know darn well that the reason he had a good start to his day is because there was no adult there to cling to and cry with. I know my kid. on the other hand, the time between 5 pm and 7 pm has left a lot to be desired. I know he's tired. I am too. I know he worked hard today. I did too. I know he should be in bed. I should be too. tired mom, tired kid. not a great combination. good thing I get another go at this whole mom thing tomorrow. maybe one day I'll get it right. for today, I'll wear the crown of "bad mom" and tomorrow I will strive to leave it on the shelf. tomorrow, John and I will begin with plan A. I don't really want to jinx it by talking about it, but it does have to do with being fully attentive to our children and NOT our computers, tv's, iPhones, etc for the hours of 4-7pm. I know the problem is with us, not solely with them. I can fix me, especially when I don't feel like I can fix them right at this moment. phew.

with a cherry on top

so, I've been feeling really out of sorts this last bit. I've blamed it on too much family time [the love-hate relationship of vacation!], not enough sleep, not enough booze, the time change, the weather...I even commented to john last week when I was all weepy and weird, the I thought I may be pregnant. THAT'S how out of sorts I was. just cranky. did it occur to me that I was pms'ing? no! that was still a week away! yeah. it explains EVERYTHING [and so no, not pregnant!]. needless to say, while on vacation, I've been going to weight watchers meetings. in the US. in oroville. I tell ya, they are the NICEST people. some lady gave me a cucumber from her garden tonight! such a small gathering, but I was totally inspired. last week and again tonight. last week I was down .4 and this week down .2 - not too bad considering the above confession...and being on vacation! not to mention, I normally have a 3-4lb span between am and pm. in edmonton, I go to a morning meeting. here, it was 5pm. if I haven't kicked some ass when I weigh in at home, I'll be surprised. anyways, that's the story.

tonight I am sitting an enjoying the heat. and some cherries. and a glass of gehringer bros. merlot. life is good.

two for the price of one

just found this:

"One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries."

{a.a. milne}

half a dozen...

well, the weather has sucked, but we've been to a bunch of wineries over the last few days:hester creek, burrowing owl, silver sage, tinhorn creek, road 13...to name a few! the ol' camera died out just as we were pulling up to hester creek, but I'll post some photos of a few other places... [oh, and we went on the first ever Fraser-Family-Nature-Walk...NEVER again! I'll tell that story a different time!]

vacation pics

as promised...! [and yes, that is John coming out of the pool in the first picture!] and the picture of the boys and I was taken today at tinhorn creek vineyard. LOVE!

day 1

well, we made it to BC in one piece. all kids are still alive and we still kinda like them! 13 hours in a car with a 4 yr old and a 6 yr old is rather INSANE, but really, the kids did exceptionally well! we were up at 3 am, packed up the car, threw the kids in and just went. the boys were awake until hinton [SUPER excited]. I gave them some gravol to get over the mountains and they generally slept on and off until kamloops. then the 45 minutes of hell began. okay, so I'll blame the mcdonald's on their general demeanor, but it really might be that I, the driver at this point, couldn't solve problems. john was asleep [until rudely awakened by piercing screams!]. needless to say, I pulled out the ol' gravol and they settled down, and in fact fell asleep near pentiction...and slept all until we woke them up in the parkade under our building. SWEET! a swim, some food and some well deserved tv time and they were sound asleep again by 8pm!

the weather here is GORGEOUS! and we spent all afternoon today at the pool. I'll post some pictures soon!

I'm a winner, you're a winner...

everyone's a winner. okay, the FOUR of you. email me your mailing addresses and keep an eye on your mailboxes. allison, I can send your treat to germany, if you'd like...!!

in other news, I have spent the last four days at lake wabaman with Connie and Ty. as a result, I have a lovely sunburn [AGAIN] and I haven't been to a yoga class in 4 days. EEEEKKKKKK! good thing there's a weekend, so I can get back on track!

have a great, safe long weekend! [oh, and only 7 more sleeps until we leave for osoyoos. YIPPIE!!!!]

I am a dork

really. you all know it. I'm just stating the facts! as I type, there have been 10013 visitors to my lovely blog-o-rama! last week I had said that I was going to post a picture of some blog-candy. YEAH. like THAT happened. seriously, I just forgot. REGARDLESS, today is the day. there is no picture, but I will randomly choose someone from the comments left between today [it's 9:46 MST] and wednesday sometime [let's be random and say...9:46 MST???]. I would do it tomorrow, but I am out at the lake and will be forgetting in a mass of martini or margarita!

this is what the winner will receive: [I was contemplating this during yoga class tonight...] a handmade accordion album using all current SU! product. I will mail it to you and you can just SLAP in your pictures!!

there it is!

and in other random news...

I was up a pound at WW this week. DAMN my crazy hips. this is HARD, HARD work. I drove directly to yoga and sweated it all out [gross, I know!]. yesterday and today I have been fighting a feeling of defeat, although my head knows I am not a loser [am a loser? mmmm.] my heart is having a rough go of it.

so my word of the week is PERSEVERE. HOLD ON. KEEP GOING. DON'T GIVE IN. DON'T GIVE UP. KEEP REACHING. HOLD TIGHT. PERSEVERE. when I get into this space I typically cave. I eat junk and stop moving and gain back every last pound and more. not this time. I had a seriously great yoga class today and if anything, I am getting stronger. I AM STRONG. this whole weight thing will NOT beat me. so, here's the deal. whatever you are going through, just keep holding on with me. WE CAN DO IT!!! [no, don't start with the Bob the Builder chant!].

leave comments - otherwise Susan or Kathy will win by default!!

xoxo!

almost 10 000!

perhaps there needs to be some celebratory blog candy. let me see what I can cook up for tomorrow - I'll post pics...THEN, you'll have to actually leave comments. shocking, I know! but that is how it works, folks. mmmm...my mind is a going...what kinds of sweet treats [sweet in awesome, not just sweet as in opposite of salty!] can I dream up?

I'll let you know tomorrow!!!

my sweet baby...

is SIX! EEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKK!!!! hard to believe that my first born has been on this planet for six years. John & I had a moment tonight looking at some photos...of which I'll share with you. in the meantime, here are six things that I love about my Nate:

1. he has an amazing memory [just like his father!]

2. he is kind to others [not always family, but ALWAYS to others!]

3. he is sensitive and often overwhelmed when people are nice to him

4. he gives the best bear hugs

5. he always gives me a hug on both sides and a kiss on both cheeks when I leave the house

6. he is curious and imaginative [dare I say, like me?? LOL]

happy birthday, son. I LOVE YOU!

I DID IT

okay, so yoga is tough. it's physically tough, but I have a hard, hard time with dizziness. it's getting better, since I am getting use to the ups and downs of the poses and with drinking more water. trying to smile more and not clenching my teeth totally helps. so yesterday night I tackeld "THE CAMEL". okay to look at this pose, it totally seems impossible [okay, in this picture it TOTALLY is!] but every time I go to to lean back on this pose, I totally get a huge head rush and it puts me in la-la land. well yesterday, I leaned back and grabbed my ankles and held on for dear life! and then I did it again today. yup. I rock. okay - just looking at this picture and I'm scared...do not be mis-led. I do not do this...yet!

and this is Monday

so, a morning of CRANKED music and some rockstars doing their thing...[I believe we were listening to "maneater" by nelly furtado], a trip to the library and then to the park with the cousins [bottom picture!!]. a good monday!

video killed the radio star

okay folks...let's see if this worked!! enjoy!!! it's a bit grainy - I think I must have saved it funny. AND, because it's grainy and weird, you can't see the subtitles under the "insert witty title" which was me trying to be funny. yeah. I just look like I forgot to insert title. LOL

a lovely little storm

so we had a bit of wind through here last night. LOL okay, enough wind to have us racing upstairs to shut all the windows when it felt like the house was going to come down around us. fortunately, the kids slept right through it. the only damage was to a tree in front, and it wasn't even bad damage...just a dislocated branch. there was a tree that got split in half on our street. literally. half of the tree is on the street!

I went to yoga this afternoon. HOLY FULL CLASSROOM, BATMAN! how many sweaty people can you fit into a room and NOT get someone else's sweat on you. yeah. LOL however, I had a great class - a great workout! I have discovered my key to breathing...I have to smile. I totally clench my teeth when I feel a bit funky. and I clench more when I am focusing on breathing. so, today I worked on NOT clenching! I smiled a bit. loose jaw, happy yoga practice.

off to put small children to bed...hopefully THAT is not the battle it has been known to be!

how do you do that?

lot's of randomness today:

1. last sunday we took the kids to the zoo - yes, the pics are mainly of ty, just because I don't think you can buy that kind of cool. not too sure where the kid gets his style, but he just makes me either REALLY angry or REALLY happy! the top picture is a bit blurry, but I still love it. the bottom one is missing the bottom half of his chin - still love it too!

2. there were some questions about my poster in the last post - I made it with pages 09 on my mac. it was a template, and it was super easy!

3. had my SU! open house today. it was a great time and I am so thankful that people took the time to come! now I am going to post the rest of my retired sets on kijiji - if I can figure that out!

4. I barely survived yoga yesterday. I had a headache on thursday and I thought it had gone. yeah. it hadn't. I could hardly get through the breathing exercises, let alone all the standing and balancing poses. sheesh.

5. went to the red piano with some girls last night. GREAT place!

6. I was down 2.2 lbs today. I'm back to the -20.6 mark. same place I was on june 13. WOW. what a month! let's hope that I can squeek out a pound for next week so I'm at the 10% mark.

7. okay, I can't think of much else. ty is having a bit of a meltdown. off to deal.

xoxo!

the party is coming...are you?

okay, so it's not really big...so if you want a copy emailed to you, just email me! plus, I'm a bit annoyed that the photo moved over. at one time it was lined up on the LH side!!! oh well, first time "making" a poster, so whatev!

had a great yoga class yesterday, and hoping for another great one today - breathe, breathe, breathe! I'll let you know how it goes!

xoxo

have you noticed?

there haven't been any pictures lately! mmmm. I'll try to fix that this week, considering I took a ton at the zoo with the kids today. yes, the zoo was my exercise today. I figure that 2.5 HOURS of walking around the little valley zoo merits enough walking for the day. and since I am making the rules up for this challenge, I say that walking at the zoo counts!!! plus, by the time we got home, made & ate dinner, and got the kids off to bed, I was ZONKED. and yes, I am in bed as I type. the wonders of modern technology!!

perhaps I will post some old-ish pictures to keep you all entertained until tomorrow - I have had 2 days away from yoga and I am craving it. I can't wait until 3:30 rolls around tomorrow and I can just breathe. and push both my mind and body HARD. sad, I know.

yeah, can't post pics tonight - I keep getting knocked off the server [or something equally as crazy!]

it feels like sunday

but no, it's only saturday.

and this morning I was pretty pissed off when I stepped on the scale and saw that I was up 1.6 WTF? although I am currently having a moment of over indulgence, I went for a serious walk with my mom tonight [6.5 km] and she gave me some ideas on how to switch it up a bit. I think I was maybe counting yoga as more points than I should of...that is an easy change to make for next week. and I am going to only allow myself to have 4 points after supper next week. I am a bit of a point hoarder and I am using a lot of points with dinner and AFTER dinner. I can tweak that a bit. and then there is the salt. I don't think I am a big salt consumer, but I am going to make sure that my post-supper snacks are not high salt snacks.

friday's yoga was with intention - breathing. in through the nose, out through the nose. sounds really simple, but it's REALLY hard. I think the focus of my next few classes is going to be the breathing. it's SOOOOO hard! I did, however, buy myself [okay, so my mom bought me for my birthday!] a two month unlimited pass. I would love to practice four times a week over the summer. that is the plan!

gonna go chill with the j-man...have a great weekend!!!

Day 7 and already behind!

listening to the kinks - this time tomorrow. LOVE this song. "...this time tomorrow, where will be be? this time tomorrow, what will we see?"

so yesterday was a bust. in the exercise and parenting department - not in the "really nice visit with a friend and her kids" department. then 6:00 hit [après swimming lessons] and yeah. I am once again the president of the bad mom's club. I know you have all been there before, but last night I wore the crown! blah. I didn't exercise today [rain issues!] but I didn't drink either, so I am counting it as a success!! needless to say, I promptly went to bed to begin the day on a fresh note.

and fresh it was!! a 6 am bikram class. my goal today had been to do every pose at least once. fought through the dizziness and totally reached my goal. there were poses I had NEVER done [balancing stick and rabbit!] and today I did them. WOOHOO! and since today is my birthday, I have a 10 am appointment with my guy at the apple store, then a pedi, then swimming lessons, then dinner with my sweet husband at dadeo's [sans kids...they are having a sleep over at grandma's!! man, I'm spoiled!].

you have a good day too...I never blog this early, so I never get to say that! be good to yourself!